First Light a fetching take on inFamous, Seattle

One of the more intriguing parts of inFamous: Second Son was the supporting cast. Fetch and Eugene were far more compelling than the family drama with Delsin Rowe and his brother, Reggie. Thankfully, the folks at Sucker Punch were just as interested in them and worked on stand-alone downloadable content called inFamous: First Light.

The campaign and accompanying battle arena centers on the neon-powered heroine Abigail “Fetch” Walker. Her story is a prequel of sorts taking place before Delsin comes on the scene. It follows Fetch’s time under the custody of the Department of United Protection. As she’s interrogated by Brook Augustine and becomes part of the DUP program, she flashes back to her past in Seattle with First Light showing the city before it was taken over. It’s the PlayStation 4 inFamous from another angle.Fetch will go up against helicopters, drive-by shooters and other foes.

First off, there’s the Battle Arena, which plays into the story as the DUP attempts to train Fetch in the ways of an assassin. It also gives players an opportunity to adjust to her powers and abilities. Controlling Fetch, I found her to be much quicker than Delsin but with a similar move set that lets her blast foes from afar and move in close with melee attacks. She even has her own Karmic Streak-type attack called Singularity, which fires out in a line and sucks up foes in its vicinity.

The Battle Arena itself is almost like a horde mode, where Fetch has to mow down wave after wave of foes. Scores are tallied and players can compare how they did against others on a global leaderboard. For those who own inFamous: Second Son, they’ll be able to tear through the arena as Delsin. It’s a bonus for having both titles.

Fetch has an expanded neon repertoire than Nelson.

But the more fascinating part aboutFirst Light is Seattle itself before it becomes a militarized zone. Just like in Second Son, Fetch can explore it. She can blaze across the roof tops using clouds of neon to boost her through the city.

Maybe it’s the novelty but I liked this take on the Emerald City. It somehow feels more alive and natural. Add in the fact that there are new areas and even snow this time around, it makes a return to Seattle more intriguing.

As for actual activities in the city, Fetch has her own set of missions and side jobs, including neon graffiti (It works differently from Delsin’s street art.), lumen races and police drone hunts. She can even act like a vigilante helping people who are being held hostage at gunpoint.

Aside from Fetch, the star of First Light is probably the new take on the environments.

Unfortunately, when I tried to save a victim, I accidentally killed everyone in the vicinity with a ground pound. On the bright side, First Light doesn’t have a Karmic system, so you don’t have to worry about collateral damage. Going more into detail with the side job, the lumen races have Fetch running across waypoints with the help of speed-boosting neon clouds. She has to make it to the finish before time runs out. Meanwhile, the police drone hunt works similarly to the find-the-camera minigame in Second Son except the drones are moving targets.

Like Delsin, Fetch has her own skill system. The upgrades allow her to drain neon faster, fire off homing missiles and set off a stasis blast. It’s a lengthy list of abilities, one that will keep players busy for the four- to five-hour campaign. In addition, Fetch can also don different outfits available to her including a DUP prisoner suit and an assassin’s uniform (a preorder bonus).

inFamous: First Light is scheduled for Aug. 26 and will sell for $14.99 on the PlayStation Store.